Sports

Sumo wrestling in Japan is among the world’s oldest sports, dating back at least 1,500 years. The rules are simple: Square off with an opponent in a ring lined with sand, then try to push the other person out. Another rule: Japanese professional sumo is also off-limits to women. Japanese women wrestlers who achieve champion status at international sumo events are frustrated to face prejudice back home.

Marathons around the world are filling up fast, and many are setting new records for participation. Runners and race directors across the globe share about why they choose to lace up.

Two decades ago, France introduced a law banning the hijab and other religious symbols in public schools. Today, with French athletes prohibited from wearing any religious items while competing at the summer’s Olympic Games in Paris, the issue is more divisive than ever.

Paris won the bid to host this summer’s Olympics, in part, on a promise to rejuvenate one of the country’s most notorious suburbs: Seine-Saint-Denis. But not all residents are sure the transformation will work.

Cyclists on the Gaza Sunbirds team have always dreamed of competing at the 2024 Paris Paralympics. But after Oct. 7, 2023, that dream took a backseat. Amid the Israel-Hamas war, the athletes have put their bikes to good use — delivering food to their community members in need.